Junkyard photography: One man's trash is another woman's art

Thursday

Jul 11, 2019 at 12:01 AM

Olson, who has lived in Siskiyou County – both in Scott Valley and Mount Shasta – for the past 18 years, said her interest in photography began in high school.

Where most people see an old rusty car or a weathered fence post, Mount Shasta’s Gloria Olson sees much more – a fascinating world of colors and textures that she showcases in her striking abstract photography.

Two of her pieces, which resemble water but are actually close-up photographs of old logging equipment and a train car, will be featured at the Siskiyou Arts Museum’s “Ebb and Flow” show, which opens Saturday, July 13 in Dunsmuir.

Olson, who has lived in Siskiyou County – both in Scott Valley and Mount Shasta – for the past 18 years, said her interest in photography began in high school.

“While the other kids were playing sports, I was hanging out in the community center photo lab, developing my own film and processing my photos in the darkroom,” she said. “The current age of digital photography works much better for me, though, without the weight of the darkroom or the expense of developing photos.”

Olson said she is always on the lookout for “rusty and weathered anything,” including beat up cars or trucks, heavy equipment parked on the side of the road, train cars, dumpsters, barrels, rusty old utility trailers or rusty sheds.

“Recently my husband and I found an area with old rusty logging equipment scattered about a field, with some lovely old weathered barrels. What a find! My favorites are unofficial junkyards with a collection of old vehicles.”

Once Olson captures an image, she eventually comes up with a name for the photo based on what she sees, or the feeling it evokes. At first, she wrestled with naming the images because she didn’t want to influence the viewer, she said.

“But then I realized that everyone sees what they see anyway. It’s wonderful – everyone comes to abstract photos with their own world view – and I love when everyone shares these on my Facebook page,” she said.

After high school, Olson dabbled in photography on and off. About 12 years ago, her husband Eric gave her a camera for Christmas and her interest was rekindled.

Olson soon became interested in creating abstracts, she said.

“I was shooting close-ups of burning wood patterns and colors. The photos didn’t print well, though, and so I reluctantly abandoned the idea for the time being.”

She instead focused on landscape photography, showcasing Siskiyou County’s beauty and diversity. Over time, though, her landscapes were becoming more and more abstract, said Olson.

“I was mostly using my telephoto lens to zoom in quite close. I loved finding unusual perspectives in landscape,” she said.

Then, earlier this year Olson saw the abstract work of another photographer on Instagram.

“I’d never seen photography so beautiful! It was like a switch in my brain clicked and that was it,” Olson said. “ I couldn’t do anything else but abstracts after that.”

Olson said she went around with her camera looking for items to photograph and it was rust, corrosion and weathering that captured her imagination.

“In pointing things out to my husband, he doesn’t see the colors, the texture, in rust and oxidized metal until I show him ... the eye needs to be trained to see. We have to work on refining our vision to see more and more nuances in detail,” Olson said.

“The varying tints and textures and line in rust and oxidation – who would have thought! The colors and patterns found on layers of old weathered paint, wonderful! It is truly a constant surprise and delight. And once one starts looking, it’s everywhere.”

Olson uses a high resolution 42 megapixel Sony a7rii camera. She processes her photos in Lightroom, which means that she only works with what is already in the image and doesn’t add or remove anything.

“I will do minor cropping to enhance the composition, and I adjust things like contrast, color vibrance and saturation,” Olson explained.

She usually uses three lenses, including a versatile 24-70mm, which allows her to focus about a foot away from a surface. A 100-400mm telephoto lens allows her to capture “harder to get to images,” and a90mm macro lens is used for super close-up shots.

Olson generally prints her junkyard photos on metallic photo paper, explaining that the subtle metallic sheen seems fitting for rust and metal surfaces. She also had one printed on metal, although the printer called her to ensure she’d sent him the right file.

“Not quite the normal Grand Canyon or family reunion photo,” she laughed.

Olson said junkyard photography is fundamentally different than shooting portraits, still lifes or landscape photography.

“Instead of gazing at nature’s beauty, feeling the gentle breeze ... I find myself making sure I’m not kneeling in broken glass, or hoping that a guard dog doesn’t jump the fence.”

Olson said she recently drove up the Oregon coast and didn’t stop once for ocean photos. “But I got some fabulous close-up images off an old train!”

Olson’s photos can be seen on her Facebook page, Gloria Olson Photographs, or on Instagram at gloriaolsonphoto.

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